Unless golfers come forward, unit owner is responsible

Living in a South Florida condominium community on or near a golf course is generally considered a good thing, bringing higher real estate values and peaceful views of hills, sand and greens.

But living with a golf course comes with downsides, such as misfired balls striking and damaging property from time to time.

It's a constant worry for 82-year-old Marianne Ranieri of Davie. The retired hairdresser's three-bedroom unit has a back balcony overlooking the 16th hole of the well-manicured Pine Island Ridge Country Club, near Pine Island Road.

The country club golf course is private and open to members of the 14 condo and homeowners associations built adjacent to it. Those who buy into the communities automatically become members and are allowed to use it along with guests for membership and golfing fees.

In February Ranieri said a golfer sent a stray ball that broke a window. In July another ball ripped her porch screen. And on a recent Sunday, a ball smashed through a den window, sending shattered glass throughout the room and across a favorite chair she normally sits on to watch TV.

"Luckily I wasn't home or else that ball could have hit me right in the head," Ranieri said. "I could have been knocked out, blinded or be dead by now. It makes me feel afraid to sit in my own house."

Nobody came forward, she said, to admit responsibility for any of the incidents.

Dr. Nader Daryaee, who practices internal medicine in Palm Beach County, has owned his condo unit for 10 years, with its master bedroom overlooking the same golf course. He said he has had three windows broken in as many years. He paid $185 twice to repair damage. He refuses to fix the last one. "Why should I, since they will just break it again? I am sick of this," Daryaee said.

Ranieri and Daryaee wonder whether they have any legal recourse against the golf course or their community associations to cover damage. "And who will pay the hospital bill if I get hurt?" Ranieri asks.

The residents are responsible out-of-pocket for damage, said Art Smith, president of the country club and president of the largest association — Pine Island Ridge Condominium G — in the community of 3,250 condos and homes. "But we do try to assist everyone when they have a problem."

He said golfers are supposed to contact owners when they cause damage and offer to pay for it, but owners may ultimately have to cover the costs — or file an insurance claim if appropriate — if that doesn't happen or if it is not clear who is responsible. The pro shop has a sign reminding golfers of their responsibility when they damage property.

Smith said when Ranieri came forward after the latest incident, he had the director of golf search records for the foursome most likely responsible for the damage given the details of where it happened on the course and the time. "It turns out some young men who were not members were on the course hitting balls and were chased off," Smith said. Apparently, they were sent away before anyone knew they had possibly broken a window.

Legal experts say being in the line of fire comes with the territory when you buy into a condo or homeowners community that borders a golf course.

"The golf courses were not built overnight," said Donna Berger, of Katzman, Garfinkel and Berger, one of the largest community association law firms in the state. "I live on a golf course, too, and have had to deal with damages. But as the law sees it, owners assume the risk when they move in." She said it is similar when home buyers purchase a home near an airport. It is difficult for them to file a lawsuit based on airplane noise.

She said Florida and other states have routinely upheld that principle, adding that an owner may have grounds for a lawsuit when the golfing-related damage rises to the level of a general nuisance, such as a home or unit being struck on a regular basis.

Berger and other experts offer a few tips:

If you live along a golf course, check your insurance policy or talk to your agent about what is covered. In Ranieri's case the deductible is $1,000 and would not cover the broken window costs, which are well below that amount.

Ask your association board whether you can put up netting or another barrier to protect your home. It appears Ranieri's board would not likely oppose that idea. "She would be allowed to put it up," said Darlene Ortiz, who is president of the board and lives in the same building. "I would not want to pay to fix a window every time either."

dvasquez@tribune.com or 954-356-4219 or 561-243-6686. Daniel Vasquez's condo column runs Wednesdays in Your Money and at SunSentinel.com/condos. Check out Vasquez's Condos & HOAs blog for news, information and tips related to life in community associations at SunSentinel.com/condoblog. You can also read his consumer column Mondays in Money and at sunsentinel.com/vasquez.